Jair Bolsonaro detained after being considered a flight risk
Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities found he posed a concrete flight risk while under domestic detention.
The former head of state was convicted of plotting a government overthrow in the ninth month and handed more than a 27-year term in prison, but he was staying under home detention pending legal challenges.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice the presiding justice said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a safety action after recent developments were revealed.
This involved seeking to disable his ankle monitor and a invitation to a supporters' gathering that could enable a possible escape.
Legal Document Reveals Flight Fears
In a filing authorising the detention, Justice Moraes said data from the centre monitoring his home detention suggested the ex-president's plan to remove the surveillance device to secure accomplishment in his flight.
This, it said, would be assisted by the disorder caused by the protest called by his son.
His son, Flávio, who works as a congressional representative, called for a gathering of his followers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on the weekend.
The senator wrote on online platforms on last Friday: Will you battle for your homeland, or see it all from your smartphone there on your sofa? I urge you to struggle with us."
He said the demonstration would be so followers could offer prayers for his physical condition and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our nation."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of the judge's ruling was the possibility of his transfer to embassies near the residence, considering that the investigations revealed a record of organizing to ask for protection through a consular facility", a statement said.
The court filing highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the federal district, Brasilia, is located around 13km from the former president's residence.
Worldwide Consequences
Bolsonaro's legal woes have generated frustration from fellow right-wing populist American leader Trump, leading him to impose a fifty percent tax on imports of Brazilian goods.
Bolsonaro is being kept in a national police facility in the capital and will have a imprisonment assessment on the next day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on Friday that the his legal team asked the High Court to authorize him to complete his entire prison term under domestic detention, with tracking devices.
They also asked that he be authorized to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he needed regular treatment for respiratory ailments and other ailments.
Context of Sentencing
Bolsonaro was convicted of leading a plot aimed at retaining his authority after he failed to win the national vote to his ideological adversary, President Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a plot which included plans to assassinate Lula and his VP candidate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been presiding over the former president's case.
The scheme was stopped because it didn't receive the backing of the armed forces officials. The current president was sworn in without issue on January 1st, 2023.
But a following week, on 8 January, numerous Bolsonaro supporters attacked and damaged official structures in the capital, Brasília.
The security forces took action and around 1,500 people were taken into custody.
The magistrates found that the protesters had been provoked by the former president whose strategy, they said, was for the Brazilian military to step in, reestablish control and reinstate his authority.
At the moment, his attorneys called the 27 years and three months sentence extremely harsh.
He was also banned from running for public office until twenty-sixty - eight years later after the completion of his term.
The former president called the legal proceedings a targeted investigation" and said it was designed to prevent him participating in the 2026 presidential election.